The Top 10 Most Italian States, Counties, and Cities in America

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For anyone familiar with Italian American culture, it probably comes as no surprise that New York City…

For anyone familiar with Italian American culture, it probably comes as no surprise that New York City has more residents of Italian descent than any other city in the U.S. and New York state has more residents of Italian descent than any other U.S. state. 

That said, neither New York City or State has the highest number of Italians per capita in the U.S. (i.e. percent of the population).  In other words, there are other cities, counties, and states around the U.S. where you are more likely to run into an Italian American than in New York. In fact, some of the answers might surprise you.  

In this post, we will break down the Top 10 Most Italian U.S. Cities, Counties and States, both on a per capita basis and a total basis, using the most recent data from the United States Census Bureau: the 2020 U.S. Census, and the 2021 American Community Survey, which are publicly available at census.gov. For the per capita ranking, the calculation is simple: number of residents of Italian descent in the area divided by that area’s total population.

Let’s start with states and work our way down to counties and cities. Here we go!

U.S. States with the Highest Number of Italian Americans
  1. New York- 2,166,572
  2. Pennsylvania- 1,345,818
  3. California- 1,340,440
  4. New Jersey- 1,285,420
  5. Florida- 1,205,718
  6. Massachusetts- 759,752
  7. Ohio- 678,668
  8. Illinois- 677,275
  9. Connecticut- 549,090
  10. Texas- 549,047

As mentioned above, New York has by far the highest total number of Italian Americans of any state, with NYC being the hub but also large Italian concentrations in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Poughkeepsie. Pennsylvania being #2 is also not a surprise given that the two cities bookending the state- Pittsburgh and Philadelphia- are both massive Italian population centers as well (see city rankings below).  California at #3 will likely surprise a lot of people since the per capita rate of Italians in California is below the national average.  But if you think of just the sheer size of California (40 million people), even a small percentage of the population adds up very quickly. The same can be said for Texas at #10, while all the other states in the top 10 are no surprise.

U.S. States with the Highest Percentage of Italian Americans (Per Capita)
  1. Connecticut- 15.2%
  2. Rhode Island- 14.6%
  3. New Jersey- 13.9%
  4. New York- 10.9%
  5. Massachusetts- 10.9%
  6. Pennsylvania- 10.4%
  7. Delaware- 9.3%
  8. New Hampshire- 9.2%
  9. Ohio- 5.8%
  10. Florida- 5.5%
While many of the Top 10 states in total Italian population are also in the Top 10 on a per capita basis, you can see that some of the smaller New England states like Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire shoot up the rankings while large states like California and Texas with lower percentages of Italians in the population drop out. Another surprise to some people may be that Illinois, home of Chicago, is not in the Top 10 (they are #11 at 5.3%).

Now, let’s get a little more granular and move on to Counties.

U.S. Counties with the Highest Number of Italian Americans
  1. Suffolk County, New York- 322,003
  2. Los Angeles County, California- 250,878
  3. Cook County, Illinois- 246,973
  4. Nassau County, New York- 234,651
  5. Middlesex County, Massachusetts- 197,207
  6. Maricopa County, Arizona- 188,964
  7. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania- 170,600
  8. New Haven County, Connecticut- 157,433
  9. Monmouth County, New Jersey- 146,657
  10. Fairfield County, Connecticut- 144,399
Many of these counties with the highest total Italian populations are simply a reflection of being home to cities with large Italian populations (NYC, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston).  Whereas others like Los Angeles and Maricopa crack the Top 10 simply due to their sheer size despite lower per capita rates.

U.S. Counties with the Highest Percentage of Italian Americans (Per Capita)
  1. Middlesex County, Massachusetts- 24.4%
  2. Monmouth County, New Jersey- 22.7%
  3. Suffolk County, New York- 21.1%
  4. Morris County, New Jersey- 20.9%
  5. Ocean County, New Jersey- 19.5%
  6. New Haven County, Connecticut- 18.2%
  7. Nassau County, New York- 16.9%
  8. Monroe County, New Jersey- 16.1%
  9. Fairfield County, Connecticut- 15.1%
  10. Bergen County, New Jersey- 15.0%
New Jersey counties make up half of the Top 10 Italian counties on a per capita basis with New York and Connecticut each adding two.  But Middlesex County in Massachusetts, which does not include the city of Boston proper, comes in at the top spot.

Finally, let’s move on to the cities with the most Italians.  While there are many ways to define a city, in this case our definition of a city is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).  An MSA is a geographic region with a high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the region.  Simply put: a big city and its commutable suburbs.  For example, the New York City MSA includes not only the City of New York, but also multiple additional counties in New York and New Jersey that are considered part of the Greater NYC region or “Tri-State Area”.

The other thing to mention here is that there are 563 designated MSAs in the U.S.  For the per capita ranking (not the total ranking), we will narrow this down to include only “big cities” which we will define as any MSA with at least 2 million people.  Think MLB and NFL cities. So, this will leave out smaller MSAs with high concentrations of Italian heritage such as New Haven and Bridgeport in Connecticut, and Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, and Syracuse in New York.

Having said all of that, here are the cities with the most Italian Americans.

U.S. MSAs with the Highest Number of Italian Americans
  1. New York City MSA- 2,164,967
  2. Philadelphia MSA- 737,153
  3. Chicago MSA- 574,683
  4. Boston MSA- 554,022
  5. Los Angeles MSA- 373,134
  6. Pittsburgh MSA- 328,849
  7. Miami MSA- 292,948
  8. Washington, DC MSA- 253,218
  9. Detroit MSA- 252,266
  10. Tampa MSA- 222,670
Many of the cities ranked in the Top 10 for total population of Italians are there simply due to their sheer size, despite not having a high percentage of the overall population being Italian.  Conversely, Pittsburgh, which is smaller in scale than the other nine cities in the Top 10, has such a high percentage of Italians that it cracks the Top 10 in total population despite its smaller size.  Which brings us to the per capita city ranking…

“Big City” U.S. MSAs (2M+) with the Highest Percentage of Italian Americans (Per Capita)
  1. Pittsburgh MSA- 14.0%
  2. Philadelphia MSA- 11.8%
  3. Boston MSA- 11.3%
  4. New York City MSA- 11.0%
  5. Cleveland MSA- 9.3%
  6. Tampa MSA- 6.9%
  7. Chicago MSA- 6.0%
  8. Detroit MSA- 5.8%
  9. Baltimore MSA- 5.3%
  10. Denver MSA- 5.1%
The two big Pennsylvania MSAs- Pittsburgh and Philadelphia- take the top two spots with Boston and NYC being the only other two MSAs in double digit percentages.  

As noted above, there are some smaller MSAs with percentages of Italian Americans in the mid to high teens that are not included.  Additionally, there are many smaller counties, small towns, and individual neighborhoods in cities that count up to 50% or more of their residents as Italian.

In conclusion, while no one would argue that New York City is the de facto “capital” of Italian America, it is important to recognize all the other cities- big or small- that make up the fabric of our Italian heritage, pride and traditions. I hope you enjoyed this article. Please let me know if you’d like me to email you the spreadsheet with all the raw data.

Buona Notte, Paisani!

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